Too Late
by Pandora151
Summary: He was too late. (Warning: Character Death)


The Force was screaming.

The _Twilight_ landed quickly, a loud thud echoing through the Jedi Temple hangar moments later. The ramp slid down, and a figure tumbled down and raced across the hangar, barely pausing to allow the ship's ramp to slide up again.

Anakin dashed out of the hangar and through to the main part of the Temple. He completely ignored the Jedi who passed him, ignored the disappointment that crossed their features. They didn't matter right now. How could they go about their day like this, when the Force was like this? When everything was going so terribly wrong?

Anakin sprinted up the stairs and towards the elevator, heart lurching in his chest. The Force urged him on and on as it cried and screeched in agony. He raced into the elevator and slammed the button, waiting and trying not to focus on the misery that seemed to pervade everything he saw and felt. He paced back and forth while in the elevator, too strung up to do anything beyond that.

After waiting for what felt like _too long_ , the elevator came to a stop and the doors began to slide open. Before they were even completely open, Anakin slid through and raced down the hall, faster than before. He passed some more Jedi now, but he didn't even bother to look at them. Time was of the essence.

The Halls looked more chaotic than he's ever seen it. Healers were running about, and he could hear a loud alarm ringing from one of the patient rooms. Anakin followed the sound of it, his heart thudding in his chest.

He looked into the room to see a crowd of Healers surrounding the bed, with Master Che standing over it, giving chest compressions. His heart sank to his stomach at the sight; he never even thought…he didn't _realize_ it would be this way. The monitors in the room were all screeching, but the Force was crying out even louder than that, and he wanted to cover his ears and shrink away from the sound of it.

He entered the room, and the Force _howled_ , crying out once more before it settled into a sort of mournful balance. There was pain in his mind, a bond that was ripped and broken, shattered at the seams. He stumbled, and Master Che turned around to face him.

The Healer was devastated; there were tears falling freely from her eyes, and she was panting. He looked up at the flat line of the heart monitor, the sound of it echoing throughout the Ward.

"Let him through."

The other healers parted ways, allowing Anakin to move forward and collapse on his knees next to the bed. Master Che stood next to him, her hand resting on his shoulder.

"We did everything, Anakin," she murmured. "You must know that."

"I…" His voice was hoarse and rough. "I was too late," he said, feeling his eyes burn with the tears forming in his eyes, but he refused to let a single one fall. He swallowed and shuddered as he reached into the Force again, feeling it weep openly now.

"None of us saw it coming," she responded, though her voice was thick.

Anakin trembled and finally looked at the body resting on the bed.

Obi-Wan's eyes were closed, but there was a pallor in his face that Anakin had never seen before. He was completely still. Anakin's heart skipped a beat in his chest at the sight of his Master.

"I was too late," he repeated dumbly.

"I'm sorry, Anakin," Master Che said. Her voice trembled slightly as she spoke.

When he and Obi-Wan returned to the Temple last week, there was a feeling, _something_ , that told him that Obi-Wan wasn't completely alright. They had been on the front lines for months upon months, with no leave, no rest, no anything. Anakin was exhausted, but he was excited to see Padmé after so long. But when he returned to the Temple, he quickly realized that Padmé had gone to Naboo to visit her family while the Senate was on a break. He left for Naboo immediately, without notifying the Council.

"Where are you going?" Obi-Wan had asked. He was sitting on the couch, nursing a cup of sapir tea. Anakin was scurrying through their apartment, trying to figure out exactly what he needed for his trip.

"Naboo," Anakin answered. "Padmé is overseeing some sort of conference there, and they needed a Jedi representative." It was not a very good lie and he knew it; especially since Obi-Wan was on the Council and would have known if there truly was a conference on Naboo of that sort.

"Right," Obi-Wan answered, then leaned back in his chair with a sigh. "I'll just…stay here then," he said. Anakin looked up then, seeing the dullness in Obi-Wan's eyes, the faint pallor to his skin.

"It'll just be a few days, Master. I'll be back before our leave ends," Anakin promised, and Obi-Wan gave him a smile.

"Oh, take your time," Obi-Wan responded, "I'm sure I will enjoy having the apartment to myself for the next few days."

Anakin finished packing, and with a rushed goodbye, he left.

He was on the second day of his vacation with Padmé when he got a message from the Healers that Obi-Wan was not well, but his condition would be monitored, and he should be fine within the next few days. Anakin felt a little worried upon seeing that message, but he stayed on Naboo. Obi-Wan was going to be fine.

But then he got a call from Master Che a few hours later.

 _"You need to come now, Skywalker,"_ she said, and there was a desperation to her voice. The Force trembled lightly as she spoke, as though it was holding tenuously onto something. He left immediately, apologizing to Padmé and running back to his ship.

The hyperspace trip back to Coruscant was one of the longest trips of his life, even though Naboo was actually not that far. He paced and ran around the ship, trying to distract himself from the anguish he heard in Master Che's voice, from the fact that the Force was violently crying, almost _screaming_.

It was not even three hours after he spoke to Master Che on Naboo, and he found himself here, staring at Obi-Wan's body with a cold and empty feeling in his chest.

"I was too late," he whispered, and the Force agreed with him silently.


End file.
